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  • Webinar Alert: Mentors Mahapanchayat at Civilsdaily IAS || Learn from our mistakes: How to crack UPSC exam in the very first attempt || Ask Us Anything (Obviously On UPSC IAS) || An Exclusive Session on What you need to Avoid

    Webinar Alert: Mentors Mahapanchayat at Civilsdaily IAS || Learn from our mistakes: How to crack UPSC exam in the very first attempt || Ask Us Anything (Obviously On UPSC IAS) || An Exclusive Session on What you need to Avoid

    Dear Aspirants,

    You know the struggle of preparing for the UPSC Exam all too well, don’t you? You go through it every day! But do you ever wonder how Mentors at CivilsDaily IAS performed during their time and What did they learn from the Mistakes they Committed? 

    How are they now using the learnings out of their own mistakes and are helping aspirants work out the best strategies suited to them. How are they keeping themselves up-to-date day in and day out now? And on top of them what makes this process so consistent year after year? 

    Register for the free webinar (Click Here)

    How do they prepare the study materials for you? How do they manage their own time? And more…

    Our super mentors Sajal sir, Sudhanshu sir, Ajay sir, Sukanya mam, and Santosh sir will give you an exclusive insight into the work that goes behind mentoring the most serious UPSC candidates over a Freewheeling Open Webinar Session this Saturday.

    Now what will make this session even more meaningful is their unique depth of self-introspection with respect to UPSC IAS, which is often missed by those who clear the exam. So you will hear directly from the horse’s mouth. 

    This would be an Open Session where you’d have an opportunity to interact with the Core Faculties at CivilsDaily IAS and learn from their own experience at handling the issues of many individual aspirants including Toppers too. 

    Learn the best ways of remaining consistent and performing at the highest level every day, just like our mentors. Ask questions and gain from their personal experiences during the “Ask The Mentor” session this Saturday evening. 

    This is a completely FREE opportunity for all serious UPSC. 

    What to Expect: 

    1. Personal learnings from Senior Mentors at CivilsDaily IAS 
    2. Mistakes Committed by them in their very first attempt and what lessons you can take from these mistakes.
    3. Ask the Mentor session as Q&A interaction
    4. Exam Strategy with CivilsDaily IAS  “ 5 Hour Mantra for 2021 “
    5. Exam Strategy for UPSC IAS 2022 
    6. Exam Specific Fact Content for Complete Economics for UPSC Civil Services 
    7. Economic Survey & Budget Videos Exclusively made for CivilsDaily IAS Students 
    8. Three Weeks Samachar Manthan News Analysis for UPSC IAS 
    9. Sample MEP Test Copies handled by Sukanya Madam 
    REGISTER FOR THE FREE WEBINAR (CLICK HERE)

    Date- 14th August

    Time- 5:30 P.M.

  • 12th Aug 2021 | Current Affairs Test – 02

    [WpProQuiz 733]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 720]

  • Concept of Inflation/Deflation/WPI/CPI/IIP

    12th Aug, 2021
     

    Inflation

    • Inflation is a quantitative measure of the rate at which the average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy increases over a period of time.
    • It refers to the rise in the prices of most goods and services of daily or common use, such as food, clothing, housing, recreation, transport, consumer staples, etc.
    • Inflation is indicative of the decrease in the purchasing power of a unit of a country’s currency. This is measured in percentage.
    • Inflation can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the individual viewpoint. Those with tangible assets, like property or stocked commodities, may like to see some inflation as that raises the value of their assets. People holding cash may not like inflation, as it erodes the value of their cash holdings.
    • Ideally, an optimum level of inflation is required to promote spending to a certain extent instead of saving, thereby nurturing economic growth.
    • Inflation and economy is related in the following way:
    • RBI takes the necessary measures to keep inflation within permissible limits and keep the economy running smoothly.
    • Deflation is a general decline in prices for goods and services, typically associated with a contraction in the supply of money and credit in the economy. During deflation, the purchasing power of currency rises over time.
    • Deflation benefits consumers because they can purchase more goods and services with the same nominal income over time.
    • Disinflation is a temporary slowing of the pace of price inflation. It is used to describe instances when the inflation rate has reduced marginally over the short term.
    • Stagflation is the combination of high unemployment with high inflation. This happened in industrialized countries during the 1970s, when a bad economy was combined with OPEC raising oil prices led to low growth.

    Who measures Inflation in India?

    • Inflation is measured by a central government authority, which is in charge of adopting measures to ensure the smooth running of the economy.
    • In India, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation measures inflation.

    Types of Inflation

    Depending upon the rate of growth of prices, inflation can be of the following types:

    1. Creeping Inflation

    Creeping or mild inflation is when prices rise 3% a year or less. This kind of mild inflation makes consumers expect that prices will keep going up. That boosts demand. Consumers buy now to beat higher future prices. That’s how mild inflation drives economic expansion.

    2. Walking Inflation

    This type of strong, or pernicious, inflation is between 3-10% a year. It is harmful to the economy because it heats up economic growth too fast. People start to buy more than they need, just to avoid tomorrow’s much higher prices. This drives demand even further so that suppliers can’t keep up. More important, neither can wages. As a result, common goods and services are priced out of the reach of most people.

    3. Galloping Inflation

    When inflation rises to 10% or more, it wreaks absolute havoc on the economy. Money loses value so fast that business and employee income can’t keep up with costs and prices. Foreign investors avoid the country, depriving it of needed capital. The economy becomes unstable, and government leaders lose credibility. Galloping inflation must be prevented at all costs.

    4. Hyperinflation

    Hyperinflation is when prices skyrocket more than 50% a month. It is very rare. In fact, most examples of hyperinflation have occurred only when governments printed money to pay for wars. Examples of hyperinflation include Germany in the 1920s, Zimbabwe in the 2000s, and Venezuela in the 2010s. The last time America experienced hyperinflation was during its civil war.

    5. Core Inflation

    The core inflation rate measures rising prices in everything except food and energy. That’s because gas prices tend to escalate now and then. Higher gas costs increase the price of food and anything else that has large transportation costs.

    Causes of Inflation

    • In any economy, generally two sets of factors result in inflation — Demand-pull factors and Cost-push factors.
    • Demand-pull factors may be those due to which there is an increase in the demand for goods and services in general leading to rising prices.
    • On the other hand, cost-push factors are those due to which there may be shortfall in supply of goods/services and/or rise in the cost of production of goods/services.
    • At any given point of time, inflation is attributed to both sets of factors. Sometimes one may be more potent than the other.

    Measures to Contain Inflation

    RBI takes monetary measures while the Government takes fiscal measures to contain inflation.

    Monetary Measures

    • As part of the monetary policy review, the RBI takes suitable measures to moderate demand to levels consistent with the capacity of the economy to maintain its growth without provoking price rise.
    • It is generally agreed that high rates of inflation is caused by an excessive growth of the money supply.
    • The RBI controls the money supply by its monetary policy via which it alters the interest rates and alters the banking reserve requirements to bring the inflation in its comfort zone.
    • The key policy rates are Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, Marginal Standing Facility and the key banking reserve requirements are SLR and CRR.
    • When these rates are altered, the movements are passed on other prevailing interest rates in the economy which ultimately influences the borrowing costs for firms and households.

    For example, when the interest rates go down, it becomes cheaper to borrow, so households are more willing to buy goods and services and firms are in a better position to purchase items to expand their businesses, such as property and equipment.

    Fiscal Measures

    • The government can take the following Fiscal Measures to contain inflation:
    1. Reducing Import Duties
    2. Allowing imports of the commodities which are scarce in market.
    3. Removing levy obligations in case of sugar
    4. Banning exports of commodities such rice and oils.
    5. Imposing minimum export prices.
    6. Suspending or banning the futures trading is come commodities.
    7. Raising the stock limit of some commodities.
    8. Making available the commodities via various organizations such as NAFED and NCCF.

    Measurement of Inflation

    • There are several ways to measure inflation.
    • On the basis of population coverage, the inflation indices are developed to understand the levels of inflation for certain sets of population such as consumers, producers, retailers, wholesalers etc. Such indices are called Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) etc.
    • On the basis of items, the inflation indices are developed to understand the levels of inflation for certain sets/baskets of items. Since the prices of some items are more volatile than others like food and fuel, it might give conflicting signals to policymakers as the overall inflation could change because of a selected few goods. Hence, separate indices can be developed separating the volatile items from the main index.  This gives rise to concepts of Headline inflation and core inflation whereby, the Headline inflation includes all the items and core inflation usually excludes food and fuel items.

    Inflation Indices

    In India, Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) are two major indices for measuring inflation. In the United States, CPI and PPI (Producer Price Index) are two major indices.

    The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was the main index for measurement of inflation in India till April 2014 when RBI adopted the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) (combined) as the key measure of inflation.

    Wholesale Price Index

    The wholesale Price Index (WPI) is computed by the Office of the Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. It was earlier released on weekly basis for Primary Articles and Fuel Group. However, since 2012, this practice has been discontinued. Currently, WPI is released monthly.

    Salient notes on WPI are as follows:

    Base Year

    The current WPI Base year is 2004-05=100. It’s worth note that the base year for CPI is 2012 currently. This is one reason for the increasing difference between CPI and WPI in recent times.

    Consumer Price Index

    Consumer Price Indices (CPI) released at the national level are:

    1. CPI for Industrial Workers (IW)
    2. CPI for Agricultural Laborers (AL)/ Rural Laborers (RL)
    3. CPI (Rural/Urban/Combined)

    While the first two are compiled and released by the Labor Bureau in the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the third is by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

    In India, RBI uses CPI (combined) released by CSO for inflation purposes. Important notes on this index are as follows:

    Base Year

    The base year for CPI (Rural, Urban, and Combined) is 2012=100.

    Key differences between WPI & CPI

    • Primary use of WPI is to have inflationary trend in the economy as a whole. However, CPI is used for adjusting income and expenditure streams for changes in the cost of living.
    • WPI is based on wholesale prices for primary articles, administered prices for fuel items and ex-factory prices for manufactured products. On the other hand, CPI is based on retail prices, which include all distribution costs and taxes.
    • Prices for WPI are collected on voluntary basis while price data for CPI are collected by investigators by visiting markets.
    • CPI covers only consumer goods and consumer services while WPI covers all goods including intermediate goods transacted in the economy.
    • WPI weights primarily based on national accounts and enterprise survey data and CPI weights are derived from consumer expenditure survey data.

    Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

    • Index of Industrial Production data or IIP as it is commonly called is an index that tracks manufacturing activity in different sectors of an economy.
    • The IIP number measures the industrial production for the period under review, usually a month, as against the reference period.
    • IIP is a key economic indicator of the manufacturing sector of the economy.
    • There is a lag of six weeks in the publication of the IIP index data after the reference month ends.
    • IIP index is currently calculated using 2011-2012 as the base year.

    IIP Index Components:

    • Mining, manufacturing, and electricity are the three broad sectors in which IIP constituents fall.
    • The relative weights of these three sectors are 77.6% (manufacturing), 14.4% (mining) and 8% (electricity).
    • Electricity, crude oil, coal, cement, steel, refinery products, natural gas, and fertilizers are the eight core industries that comprise about 40 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.

    Basket of products

    There are 6 sub-categories:

    1. Primary Goods (consisting of mining, electricity, fuels and fertilizers)
    2. Capital Goods (e.g. machinery items)
    3. Intermediate Goods (e.g. yarns, chemicals, semi-finished steel items, etc)
    4. Infrastructure Goods (e.g. paints, cement, cables, bricks and tiles, rail materials, etc)
    5. Consumer Durables (e.g. garments, telephones, passenger vehicles, etc)
    6. Consumer Non-durables (e.g. food items, medicines, toiletries, etc)

    Who releases IIP data?

    • The IIP data is compiled and published by CSO every month.
    • CSO or Central Statistical Organization operates under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
    • The IIP index data, once released, is also available on the PIB website.

    GDP Deflator

    The most comprehensive measure is GDP deflator which is measured as the ratio of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) at current prices to GDP at constant prices. Since it encompasses the entire spectrum of economic activities including services, the scope and coverage of the national income deflator is wider than any other measure. This data is released by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) but is not used as it comes quarterly and with a 2-month lag.

    What is Inflation targeting?

    • Inflation targeting involves using monetary policy to keep inflation close to the agreed target.
    • RBI and Government of India signed a Monetary Policy Framework Agreement in February 2015.
    • As per terms of the agreement, the objective of monetary policy framework would be primarily to maintain price stability (inflation targeting), while keeping in mind the objective of growth.
    • According to the agreement, RBI would aim to contain consumer price inflation within 4% with a band of (+/-) 2% for all subsequent years.

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  • Understanding the anxieties behind Chinese aggression towards India

    Context

    Chinese President Xi Jinping made a surprise visit to Tibet on July 21, signalling the seriousness with which China continues to take its Himalayan border dispute with India.

    Understanding China’s strategic challenges and intensions

    • Demonstration of political confidence through aggression: More than a year after the clash at Galwan Valley, efforts to resolve the border crisis continue to move slowly.
    • The Chinese side has previously failed to complete troop withdrawals and revert to the status quo that the Indian side believed China agreed to.
    • China’s behaviour has been calculated to demonstrate political confidence.
    • Worsening strategic environment for China: Seen from Beijing, the strategic environment for China is beginning to worsen in South and Central Asia.
    • As the US withdraws and the Taliban advances in Afghanistan, China fears the prospect of instability and an emerging haven for terrorism directed against its policies in Xinjiang.
    • Even as China seeks to scale back the debt-laden BRI, such instability may also result in Beijing increasing its already overstretched external commitments — particularly in the security domain.
    • Re-emergence of Quad: China is deeply worried by the re-emergence and strengthening of multilateral opposition to China, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or “Quad”) between the US, Japan, Australia and India.
    • For China, this represents a persistent threat not only economically and in foreign policy, but also militarily along its maritime periphery in the South and East China Seas, as well as the Taiwan Strait.
    • As US multilateral cooperation with its partners has increased, Beijing has come to increasingly see itself as beset by threats on all sides.

    China’s 2 possible responses to strategic challenges and its implications for India

    • 1) Wolf warrier diplomacy: So far, the response from China’s new class of “wolf warrior” diplomats to this emerging strategic challenge has been to only grow more assertive in rhetoric and behaviour.
    • China’s domestic politics: Response of wolf warrior diplomats may seem perplexing, given that it has served only to alienate other countries and isolate China further.
    •  China’s domestic politics in the lead up to the 20th Congress will mean that its leaders, diplomats and generals will be displaying maximum nationalistic fervour.
    • Implications for India: This may well mean China taking political and policy decisions, which in a normal season they would not because doing so could compromise Beijing’s longstanding diplomatic and strategic goals, including in dealings with India.
    • 2) Moderate approach to improve strategic position: But if instead of aggressive posture, China decided that it was better domestic politics to improve China’s strategic position in Asia amid its competition with Washington, Beijing’s diplomats may yet adopt a more moderate approach, including with India.
    • Implications for India: If stability can be restored to the China-India strategic relationship, this could provide a window for Asia’s two mega-economies to reopen their markets to each other.

    Conclusion

    Indeed, the choice China makes between these two alternatives will have implications for India and the rest of the world in their dealing with China.

    Feeling anxious about your UPSC preparation? Don’t worry, speak with our mentors and get your problems resolved, personally! (Click here)

  • Why central government schemes for discoms have not worked

    Context

    A recent report of Niti Aayog has assessed the losses of discoms to be about Rs 90,000 crore in 2020-21.

    Central government schemes for discoms

    • In 2001, the Accelerated Power Development Scheme was initiated.
    • This was followed by various other schemes with some differences between them.
    •  The government had launched the UDAY scheme in 2015.
    • UDAY did not involve any monetary assistance to the states, but only promised to help the states in reducing the cost of power through coal linkage rationalization, etc.
    • Recently, the government launched a new scheme with a total outlay of around Rs 3.03 lakh crore.
    • It seeks to improve the distribution infrastructure of the distribution companies (discoms) with the primary intention of improving their financial health.
    • The objective of the scheme is to bring down commercial losses in the range of 12-15 percent and also reduce the difference between the average cost of supply (ACS) and average revenue realized (ARR) to zero by 2024-25.
    • The problem with all these schemes (including UDAY) is that they have not been delivered and the financial position of the discoms has only worsened.

    Why did schemes fail to improve the financial health of discoms?

    • Reduction of loss is a managerial issue: Reduction of commercial losses is not really about improving infrastructure, it is more of a managerial issue.
    • The average loss (inclusive of technical and commercial) is about 22 percent today.
    • But several discoms have losses in excess of 40 percent.
    • It is possible to bring down losses from 40 percent to about 15 percent without any significant investments in infrastructure.
    • Investments, however, would be required to bring down losses further to a single-digit level.
    • The governance issues of the scheme is a complex issue.
    • The two most popular parameters which are monitored are the loss levels and the difference between the ACS and ARR.
    • There are inherent problems with these parameters since they keep fluctuating and it is very difficult to fathom their trend on a quarter-wise basis, rendering the release of funds to be tricky and cumbersome.
    • In the scheme now announced by the government, about 26 parameters will be taken into consideration and assigned a score.
    • For some of the parameters, it may be difficult to assign a score across discoms which may lead to some amount of subjectivity.

    Way forward: Alternate approach

    • Provide transitional financial support: An alternate approach that could be considered by the Centre (in lieu of such assistance schemes) is providing only transitional financial support to all discoms, which are privatized under the private-public partnership mode. 
    •  A transitional support of Rs 3,450 crore spread over five years proved to be exceedingly beneficial in the case of discoms in Delhi.
    • Promote privatization: Since in an earlier policy statement the government had mentioned that privatization of discoms is to be promoted, it would make sense to consider this transitional support as a catalyst.

    Conclusion

    Adopting this approach will ensure that the central government moves away from the micro-management of discoms, which inevitably happens if the release of funds is linked to reform-linked parameters on a quarter-wise basis.

     

  • 12th August 2021| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement(AWE)

    Topics for Today’s questions:

    GS-1   Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India

    GS-2  Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

    GS-3  Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

    GS-4  Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.

    Questions:

    Question 1)

    Q.1 “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India”. Comment. (10 Marks)

    Question 2)

    Q.2 Quad has come a long way since its formation and over the years, the Quad’s diplomacy has waxed and waned. However, in the present context, China is deeply worried about the re-emergence and strengthening of the Quad. In light of this, examine the implications of Quad for India-China relations. (10 Marks)

    Question 3)

    Q.3 Despite many central government schemes, the financial position of discoms has not improved. What are the reasons for this? Suggest the way forward. (15 Marks)

    Question 4)  

    Q.4 “Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world.” — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Analyse the quote from the ethical perspectives relevant to today’s contemporary world. (10 Marks)

    HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?

    1. Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.

    2. A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.

    3. You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.

    4.  Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.

    5. Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.

    6. If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 1st August is uploaded on 1st August then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis

    7. If you are writing answers late, for example, 1st August is uploaded on 3rd August, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.

    8. We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. 

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  • 12th August 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 735]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 735]

  • Webinar Alert: Mentors Mahapanchayat at Civilsdaily IAS || Why We Failed And What We Learnt || Ask Us Anything (Obviously On UPSC IAS) || An Exclusive Session on What you need to Avoid

    Webinar Alert: Mentors Mahapanchayat at Civilsdaily IAS || Why We Failed And What We Learnt || Ask Us Anything (Obviously On UPSC IAS) || An Exclusive Session on What you need to Avoid

    Dear Aspirants,

    You know the struggle of preparing for the UPSC Exam all too well, don’t you? You go through it every day! But do you ever wonder how Mentors at CivilsDaily IAS performed during their time and What did they learn from the Mistakes they Committed? 

    How are they now using the learnings out of their own mistakes and are helping aspirants work out the best strategies suited to them. How are they keeping themselves up-to-date day in and day out now? And on top of them what makes this process so consistent year after year? 

    Register for the free webinar (Click Here)

    How do they prepare the study materials for you? How do they manage their own time? And more…

    Our super mentors Sajal sir, Sudhanshu sir, Ajay sir, Sukanya mam, and Santosh sir will give you an exclusive insight into the work that goes behind mentoring the most serious UPSC candidates over a Freewheeling Open Webinar Session this Saturday.

    Now what will make this session even more meaningful is their unique depth of self-introspection with respect to UPSC IAS, which is often missed by those who clear the exam. So you will hear directly from the horse’s mouth. 

    This would be an Open Session where you’d have an opportunity to interact with the Core Faculties at CivilsDaily IAS and learn from their own experience at handling the issues of many individual aspirants including Toppers too. 

    Learn the best ways of remaining consistent and performing at the highest level every day, just like our mentors. Ask questions and gain from their personal experiences during the “Ask The Mentor” session this Saturday evening. 

    This is a completely FREE opportunity for all serious UPSC. 

    What to Expect: 

    1. Personal learnings from Senior Mentors at CivilsDaily IAS 
    2. Mistakes Committed by them in their very first attempt and what lessons you can take from these mistakes.
    3. Ask the Mentor session as Q&A interaction
    4. Exam Strategy with CivilsDaily IAS  “ 5 Hour Mantra for 2021 “
    5. Exam Strategy for UPSC IAS 2022 
    6. Exam Specific Fact Content for Complete Economics for UPSC Civil Services 
    7. Economic Survey & Budget Videos Exclusively made for CivilsDaily IAS Students 
    8. Three Weeks Samachar Manthan News Analysis for UPSC IAS 
    9. Sample MEP Test Copies handled by Sukanya Madam 
    REGISTER FOR THE FREE WEBINAR (CLICK HERE)

    Date- 14th August

    Time- 5:30 P.M.

  • [Yojana Archive] Agriculture and Sustainable Development

    In the earlier edition about North East Region, we studied about:

    [Yojana Archive] Governance in North-East Region
    This article is an extension to the various summaries of the July edition of Yojana where all dimensions will be covered in coming weeks.

    The North-Eastern Region (NER) has several unique and unparalleled features; fertile land, abundant water resources, evergreen dense forests, high and dependable rainfall, flora and fauna and a mixture of socio-economic, political, ethnic and cultural diversity.

    Agriculture in NER

    • The NER comprising of eight States has a total geographical area which is nearly 9.12% of the total area of the country.
    • Rural population in the region is around 80%. In the absence of major industries except in the state of Assam, the society is agrarian and depends on agriculture and allied sector for livelihood and other support.
    • The agricultural production system is characterized by low cropping intensity (114%), subsistence level and mono-cropping.
    • Mixed farming system is the order as most of the farmers want to produce their household food and nutritional need without having to depend on outside sources.
    • The system, therefore, supports horticulture and animal husbandry partly due to a preference for non-vegetarian food.

    Cropping patterns

    • The net sown area is highest in Assam (34.12%), followed by Tripura (23.48%). Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest net sown area in the region.
    • Cropping intensity is highest in Tripura (156.5%), followed by Manipur (152.1%), Mizoram (136.36%), and Assam (123.59%).
    • About 1.6-million-hectares of area are under shifting cultivation in North East region.
    • The region receives an annual rainfall of 2000 mm accounting for around 10% of the country’s total precipitation.
    • The soil of the region is acidic to strongly acidic in reaction. The soils are however rich in organic matter.

    Key features

    • Topographical limitations: Although the landholding in the region appears to be higher, the entire holding cannot be used for agricultural purposes due to topographical disadvantages.
    • Rice as staple: Rice dominates agriculture, but the productivity is low and production risky. Farming is predominantly rice-based with a little exception in the state of Sikkim where maize is a dominating crop.
    • Unevenness: The NER is extremely diverse: uneven land, high and variable rainfall pattern and ethnicity.
    • Animal husbandry: Various combinations of crop-livestock-fish-silk are followed in the region but such diversification contributes negligibly.
    • Landholding: The preponderance of small and marginal (S&M) farmers is an important feature of the region.

    Combating poverty

    On account of complete dependence on agriculture, its vulnerability to natural calamities such as floods, submergence as well as droughts has deteriorated rural life and rural poverty has become rampant.

    The deficit in food grains especially rice in the NER is increasing over the years. The approaches and strategies to increase rice production are given below:

    1. Increasing seed replacement rate.
    2. Enhancing varietal replacement rate.
    3. Increasing cropping intensity through assured irrigation.
    4. Expansion of effective irrigation facilities.
    5. Adoption of more intensive cultivation practices.
    6. Maintaining soil health and providing judicious soil nutrients.
    7. Revisiting the extension mechanism.
    8. Facilitation of credit, finance and crop insurance.
    9. Marketing and creation of rural storage infrastructure, and
    10.  Farm mechanization

    Livestock Sector in NER

    • Assam which has the largest cattle production in the region has slow growth in milk production which may be because it has a maximum of indigenous breeds in the total cattle population.
    • Manipur and Mizoram witnessed decline in per capita availability of milk while it has increased in other states.
    • Productivity of milk in case of buffaloes shows that the buffaloes in the region are very low yielding compared to other parts of India.

    Policy Perspectives

    • Despite the abundant natural resources, congenial climate and rich human capital, the NER has failed to reap the benefits of huge opportunities for societal welfare.
    • In effect, the agricultural economies are falling back into the vicious cycle of low productivity, unemployment, low income and poverty and continue to limp, and this has increased the social threat perceptions.
    • Hence a synergy is needed among the inter-disciplinary research community, policy planners and implementers, along with civil society to deal with the multifaceted situation.

    It is felt that the region needs appropriate policy and investment to boost the development process.

    • Flood management: NER is typically a rain-fed system. Here flood escaping production system is required, in flood-prone areas, where Boro rice is a promising crop enterprise.
    • Modernization: Numerous aromatic and medicinal plants can be practiced with low-cost and resource conserving practices (Zero-tillage, System of Rice Intensification, etc.) to meet the growing domestic as well as international demand. Agriculture plus is required. That is, crop production should coexist with livestock, plantation, floriculture, medicinal crops and sericulture systems.
    • Diversification: The hilly terrains suit crop diversification with high value horticulture crops accompanied by livestock and sericulture. The shifting cultivation requires an innovative strategy for improving productivity of rice and other crops, flowers like orchids and livestock.
    • Agro-processing: Agro-processing sector hitherto is a neglected area but it has high potential to add value and reduce post-harvest losses. By encouraging fresh initiatives in ogre-processing, packaging and exploring of newer marketing avenues, the region can take advantages of high potential cross-border trade with surrounding countries.
    • R&D: R&D support systems for generating small and marginal farmers’ friendly new agricultural technology should be given. Therefore, there is a need for boosting R&D investment in agriculture, which already is a low key area in the region.
    • Regional Database: It is a serious constraint to effective policy analysis in the agricultural economy in the region. Basic tool of e-governance is necessary in this regard.

  • Bringing Minority Schools under RTE

    The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended that Minority Schools be brought under Right to Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

    What is the report?

    • The report is titled “Impact of Exemption under Article 15 (5) with regards to Article 21A of the Constitution of India on Education of Children in Minority Communities”.
    • It has assessed minority schools (schools run by minority organizations) in the country.

    Key recommendations of the report

    • Minority schools are exempt from implementing The Right to Education policy and do not fall under the government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
    • Through this report, the NCPCR has recommended that these schools be brought under both RTE and SSA, amongst a host of other recommendations.

    Developments in RTE

    (1) 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002):

    • In 2002, the 86th Amendment to the Constitution provided the Right to Education as a fundamental right.
    • The same amendment inserted Article 21A, which made the RTE a fundamental right for children aged between six and 14 years.
    • The passage of the amendment was followed by the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) that aimed to provide “useful and relevant, elementary education’’ to all children between six and 14 years.

    (2) 93rd Constitutional Amendment (2006):

    • In 2006, the 93rd CAA inserted Clause (5) in Article 15.
    • This enabled the State to create special provisions, such as reservations for the advancement of any backward classes of citizens like SCs and STs, in all aided or unaided educational institutes, except minority educational institutes.

    (3) RTE Act (2009):

    • The government subsequently brought the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which centers around inclusive education for all, making it mandatory to include underprivileged children in schools.
    • Specifically, Section 12(1)(c) of the Act provided for a 25 percent reservation of seats in unaided schools for admission of children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.

    How are minority schools exempt from RTE and SSA?

    • Article 30 of the Constitution states the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
    • This article aims to provide opportunities to children from different religious and linguistic minority communities to have and conserve a distinct culture, script, and language.
    • Subsequently, in 2012, through an amendment, the institutions imparting religious education were exempted from following the RTE Act.
    • Later on, in 2014 (Pramati judgment), while discussing the validity of exemption under Article 15 (5), the Supreme Court declared the RTE Act inapplicable to schools with minority status.
    • This was in the view that the Act should not interfere with the right of minorities to establish and administer institutions of their choice.

    Why has the NCPCR carried out the study?

    • The Commission’s objective was to assess the impact of this exemption of minority educational institutions from various guidelines that are mandatory for non-minority institutions.
    • It opined that the different sets of rules under Article 21A, Article 30, and Article 15 (5) act as creating a conflicting picture between the fundamental rights of children and the rights of minority communities.

    What are the findings of the report?

    The Commission has observed in the report that many children who are enrolled in these institutions or schools were not able to enjoy the entitlements that other children are enjoying.

    (1) Missionaries schools are elite cocoons

    • It has been said that there have been certain detrimental effects of the exemption – on the one hand, there are schools, mostly Christian Missionary schools.
    • Such schools are admitting only a certain class of students and leaving underprivileged children out of the system, thus becoming what the Commission has called “cocoons populated by elites’’.

    (2) Minorities schools become overcrowded without facilities

    • As opposed to this, other types of minority schools, in particular madrasas, have become “ghettos of underprivileged students languishing in backwardness’’ says the Commission.
    • The Commission has said that students in madrasas that do not offer a secular course along with religious studies – such as the sciences – have fallen behind and feel a sense of alienation and “inferiority’’ when they leave school.

    What are the findings with regards to madrasas?

    There are four kinds of madrasas in India:

    1. Madrasas recognized by the government, which usually impart both religious as well as secular Courses, including the sciences has four percent Mulsim students (15.3 lakh) said the Sachar Committee report.
    2. There are 10,064 such madrasas in India and the Commission points out that these were the ones taken into consideration by the Sachar Committee when it said four percent of Mulsim students (15.3 lakh) studied in madrasas.
    3. There are unrecognized madrasas, which the government hasn’t recognized because they do not impart secular education or lack physical infrastructure, including the number and quality of teachers.
    4. Then, there are unmapped madrasas that have never applied for recognition and function in a more informal setup – there is no data on how many such madrasas exist and how many students study there.

    Why bring them under RTE?

    • The Commission believes this took place as schools wanted to operate outside the legal mandate to reserve seats for backward classes.
    • RTE provides for norms pertaining to basic minimum infrastructure, a number of teachers, books, uniforms, Mid-day Meal, etc., that benefits students in minority schools have not been receiving.

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